Luxembourg Airport Suspends Flights After Drones Spotted Nearby

Email: online@newsofbahrain.com

Luxembourg: Flight operations at Luxembourg Airport were temporarily suspended Friday evening after unauthorised drones were found close and then over the airport, leading authorities to halt arrivals and departures as a preventative safety step.

The suspension affected 19 incoming aircraft with almost 1,800 passengers. The planes were redirected to several airports, including Cologne/Bonn, Brussels, Frankfurt-Hahn, Liège, Paris, Basel, and Strasbourg.

Luxair reported that 17 of its flights were disrupted, while KLM Royal Dutch Airlines from Amsterdam and Air Dolomiti from Frankfurt were also diverted. The first affected aircraft was a Luxair flight from Heraklion, which was scheduled to land at 10:10 p.m. local time.

The airport resumed normal operations on Saturday morning. However, authorities cautioned passengers to expect delays and inconveniences as airlines and airport partners tried to restore normal schedules following the temporary closure.

The airport stated that the suspension was implemented to protect passengers, airline crews, airport officials, and aircraft. It did not reveal who was piloting the drones or where they came from, and authorities continued to watch the situation.

Luxembourg's government has announced that an interministerial drone task team will reconvene on Saturday to evaluate the event. The committee had previously met following reports of potential drone sightings near Miedernach earlier in the week. 

Photo: Representative Image